About Us

Saturday, May 31, 2014

A picture of the celebration for the winners of the recent election in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. Last Saturday on May 24, Cleopatra Xigalia contacted me to say Ceasar Xigalia had won the Chancellorship. He had outperformed the other candidate, Patroklus Murakami, 34 to 31 (details in CDS forum).

There was also a referendum on whether or not to purchase a new sim, which passed.

When not in Second Life, a number of the "Furry Gamers" have been building things in the "Space Engineers" game. This includes Jasmine Dawn Shuftan (known in Steam games as Jazmare), whom has been thinking big on a certain problem: how to get lots of ores in a hurry. She had the idea of making a machine big enough to pulverize whole asteroids. So she came up with a giant rock grinder that I christened "The Grind."

As far as ships go, "The Grind" is truly a beast. Row upon row of rock-chewing grinders that work across huge lengths of surface on an asteroid. It can gather up tons of ores in a hurry. And most of it gets picked up. A few rocks avoid being gathered in by the machine, but not many.

One can see the difference what about a minute of operation did to this asteroid.

Seen from below, "The Grind" is a fearsome sight with all of those rock-gnawing metal teeth. You really do *not* want to be beneath and close when it starts up.

Jasmine made this in her own game, so when the new "Dedicated servers" feature came up and Nydia started a world, she was unable to bring it there. But no doubt she'll come up with something soon that Nydia and other SE players can enjoy.

Filmed by Nydia Tungsten, "The song was a request by Miss Cecily, since we have known her and fer family for a VERY long time. We grabbed her and shot it. A thank you goes out to Sir Drac for his appearance as well."

Friday, May 30, 2014

This month, the Tiny community of Raglan Shire gets more visitors than usual. The reason is their annual art show, which is publicized not just to it's local residents, but to all of Second Life. Both paintings and three-dimensional art are featured in the event lasting most of the month of May. Bixyl Shuftan went to take a look at the exhibits.

The roads are down on all the sims. Stages are in progress. The auditorium is awaiting programs. The builders are waiting to enter. Yesterday I went to my training session for Exhibitor Assistant. Diana Renoir gave the training again this year. This will be my third year as an EA as we are called. Our job is to help the builders get settled on their plots and have the “tools” they need to do their work in the sims. We give them a slice of cake which contains all their information to make life easier for the next few weeks before the opening of the sims to the public. The builders are most grateful to the EA’s throughout the next weeks because we can set their streams on the plots, put a landing point for them and a texture of identification of their plot. I took some pictures at the training session so you could see some of the people you may meet on the sims . I enjoy being in the sims during the building to witness the growth of the installations . One thing I know, although I will spend time there in the next month before and during the event I will never get to see everything there is to see. The past two years have proven that to me. It is impossible!! There will be so much to explore on all those 11 sims. So I am warning you now to save more than one day to come during the public weeks. You really don’t want to miss all the sights, and freebies, and parties do you? Keep an eye on the blog and check out those great videos and get ready for fun! http://slcommunitycelebration.com/Gemma Cleanslate(click here if the video fails to play)Editor's Note: Today (May 30th) is the day the SL11B sims open to exhibitors. Stay tuned for sneak peeks of the builds (exhibitors contact us if you want your build in the paper).

It was a fairly typical day in late May at the Podex Exchange. People were talking less about spring and more about summer, and customers dropping in talked about getting swimwear and beach gear. Between clients stopping by, the tellers chatted amongst themselves.There was a little talk about the preparations for the Second Life birthday celebrations, but that was a month away. They talked more about Relay for Life events. One mentioned Mount St Helens blowing up on May 18th, as well as "Towel Day."
In the middle of their discussions, a visitor walked in. He was foxlike with red fur and a bushy tail. But what also got attention was that he was in an army uniform, green and with a helmet. At least there was no weapon on him, so this was unlikely anyone trying to imitate Clumsy Cooper.

"Um, can I help you?" One of the tellers asked the man.

"Yes," the figure spoke, "I'm with a combat roleplay area, and the place just approved some new mesh weapons. So I need a few Lindens to um, 'requisition' some of the new gear."

"Well, you've come to the right place," another teller told him, "We accept US Dollars, Euros, and several other currencies."

"Just plain 'ol US bucks," he spoke, glancing around, "What's this about a Visa card?"

"It's a pre-paid Visa card," the teller explained, "You can load it by Paypal or money transfer. Completely anonymous. We send it to your doorstep."

"Maybe another time. For now just the Lindens."

"Certainly, just fill out this paperwork ..."

It wasn't long before the necessary papers were filled out, and the exchange was done.

"Thanks, now I can get the better weapons."

"So how big is this combat roleplay area?" one teller asked.

"Well, each side has seven companies, ours labeled from A to G. I was with Easy Company for a while. But just after I got this avatar, I was transfered to," he paused, "Fox Company."

Hope Haven Heroes and Two Moon Paradise are delighted to invite you to the Hope Ball to celebrate survivors and caregivers on National Cancer Survivors Day.

The Hope Ball will feature music chosen by our DJ Aryon Dagger who is herself a two-time cancer survivor. Aryon will spin the discs from 1.30pm-3pm.

We are honored that the SL musician Voodoo Shilton will give a live performance from 3pm.

On Sunday, June 1, 2014, cancer survivors across the globe will unite to show the world what life after cancer looks like. This unique celebration will mark the 27th annual National Cancer Survivors Day, Thousands of people in hundreds of communities across the U.S. and abroad - and in Second Life - will hold celebrations on this day to honor cancer survivors and to show that there is life after a cancer diagnosis – and it’s something to celebrate.

National Cancer Survivors Day is an annual worldwide Celebration of Life. It is the one day each year that we come together to honor everyone who is living with a history of cancer – including America’s 14 million cancer survivors. “A ‘survivor’ is anyone living with a history of cancer – from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life,” according to the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation, administrator for the celebration.

NCSD provides an opportunity for cancer survivors to connect with other survivors, celebrate milestones, and recognize the healthcare providers, family, and friends who have supported them along the way. It is a day for cancer survivors to stand together and show the world what life after cancer looks like.

NCSD is recognized by the American Cancer Society. For more information go to:

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Last Saturday on May 24th, The Relay for Life held an Honor Ball in the Relay dAlliez sim, "This special event honors our cancer survivors and caregivers. T1 Radio's Trader1 Whiplash will be the dj and emcee for this event. The dresscode is formal. Come out and honor our cancer survivors and caregivers."

Even with the dress code limited to "formal," there was still quite a variety of wear, as DJ Madonna, known for performing while wearing skin-tight rubber suits, demonstrated with her dress.

A good time was had by all.

This Sunday, the Relayers will hold their Hope Ball, where one can expect more quality performances, and enthusiastic Relayers.

This year, Conception is celebrating 11 years of events on the playa in Second Life. Today, we
are excited to announce our collection of the BURN2 Artists, Creators, and Builders for
Conception 2014! All the builds will reflect one of three themes: The past; where we have come
from, the present; where we are now, or the future; where we are going.

Some artists are ready to share a description of their builds while others are still in the creative
process! Patience, Patience. You can check in on our webpage for updates on their build
descriptions!

"Second Life is often regarded by non-users as little more than a 3D platform for cyber sex. In this episode of SubPixel we wanted to see how much more there was to Second Life, or if in fact it was just a way for people to get down online.This documentary is a cross-section of a complex world of computer generated avatars. An examination of the creativity, love, sex, money and everything in between, that makes up Second Life.

[This is an slightly amended, HD, version of a doc originally released in 2009.]"

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

From the very beginning, people have checked out Second Life, only to quickly loose interest on day one, for whatever reason, and not show up again, leaving their avatars behind. So what happens to these abandoned avs?

Maps are pretty important in our lives. When we go some where, we take one. And they're important in Second Life as well. How long can one go without using the one in our viewer? For those curious about maps of Second Life locations old and new, there's a place to check out: the "Maps of Second Life" exhibit at the New Kadath Lighthouse Gallery. Gemma Cleanslate went to check it out, and wrote about it for the Newser.

Theonlyjohnny has been looking for roleplay sims, and found one that caught his attention: Tellus. Tellus caught his attention as it has a city of greenery thriving in the middle of the desert. But there was more to the place than that, as he would write about.

Earlier this month, Linden Lab introduced new starting avatars for beginning Second Life users. Residents got an early peek when Ebbe Linden was in public as one while giving a speech for the VWPBE conference in April. Some expressed hope this would be an improvement for the newcomer experience with better looking avatars. Finally on May 15th, the Lab announced their arrival.

Today, we’re updating Second Life’s default avatar options with 24 brand new mesh avatars. You may have spotted a sneak peek at a few of these as Lindens tried them out recently, and starting today, you can start using them yourself! These avatars are designed to give new users a more appealing set of choices as they start their time in Second Life. Based on the most popular avatars picked at registration, these new options are much better-looking and take advantage of technology incorporated into Second Life over the past year (like fitted mesh and materials) for a more modern feel.

To access these default avatars, one has to use the official viewer. So those who favor Firestorm, Singularity, or another third-party viewer will have to temporarily switch over. Under the "People" tab, one finds the selection of default avatars. The good news, these avatars are more detailed, the human ones more appealing and the monster ones looking scarier. For some reason, all the monster avs are listed as "vampire," even though they include a werewolf, a gargoyle, a zombie, and a monster hunter (human?).

The bad news, these avatars can't be modified. You can't change the eye color. You can't make the nose a little smaller. You can't change the hair color. contrast this with many MMOs such as Elder Scrolls or even the long-standing World of Warcraft in which players can modify their characters appearance, sometimes with lots of options and many degrees of variation. Even earlier newcomer experiences in Second Life invited and encouraged the new user to make changes to their avatar.

The old (human) default avatars are still an option, now listed as "classic." These are still modifiable. But assuming a newcomer chooses one of the new avatars first, it might be a while before they figure that out.

Jo Yardley had a few things to say about the new avatars on her blog. When they were just about to appear, she expressed hope they would help encourage new users to stay. But once they arrived, she had mixed emotions, "I ... fear a flood of new users visiting my sim, and then having to explain to them that they won't be able to dress their avatar in 1920s clothes because we don't have fitted mesh 1920s clothes as a freebie ... and having to explain to them how to completely change their avatar ... good idea to replace the old avatars, about time even, but I don't think it is a huge improvement to Second Life as a whole." Her idea of a better solution was instead of giving newcomers a choice of 36 avatars, why not allow them to create their own? "Creating, adapting, and customising your avatar should be fun and easy. Look at the game industry to see how they do it, and translate that to an avatar builder on the SL website. If others can do it, so can we."

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

With Memorial Day gone, summer is just around the corner. And so this is the last week of May and the start of June is this weekend. Drop by Madpea for their Gacha Art Festival. Stop by Club Cutlass as the Sunbeamers RFL team does their "Booty Call" fundraiser. And don't forget the regularly scheduled DJ music parties, book and poetry readings, talk shows, races, and church services.

MAY 31st we are having a contest for the Furry Gamers. The prize will be your choice of game/s from steam up to $50.00 US Dollars.

The contest will be double elimination in one on one "World of Tanks" combat. The winner takes it at the end of the day. The tanks can be any nation you choose but no higher than tier 3 to give everyone a fighting chance, and maps will be picked at random by myself.

We will be starting at Noon SLT. so get as much practice in as you can and GOOD HUNTING!

PS: I will be streaming this as well, so make sure you smile as you pull that trigger

When one things of space games, one usually thinks of alien invaders and blowing them apart in battle. Asteroids, just an obstacle to move around with no purpose other than to wreck someone not paying attention. "Space Engineers" is a game in which the main purpose is not combat, but building. Although combat is an option for the more aggressive players, most of the time will be spent mining asteroids for ores, refining ores into various metals, and assembling the metals into various parts, and using the parts to build and modify stations and ships to suit one's needs and goals. Nydia Tungsten gives her review on the game, which has been the latest hit among her gaming neighbors in Second Life.

Yesterday, it was announced that the Australian sim, along with it's sister sim of Dingo Bay, would be closing down. Whelan Ferraris, the owner of the place, explained the reasons in a notecard.

Well folks, I hope you have enjoyed the little that we've been able to offer at Dingo Bay, it has been a pleasure to put it all together and make a little slice of 'Australian' fun available for friends to meet and relax. You may or may not be aware that another six Australian or Aus-related sims have ceased in the last month. Sadly, we must follow that path. Gem and I have enjoyed seven years in SL and the last couple of years have been part of a dream to keep Australian presence in SecondLife. We have viewed this sim set as an iconic representation of real life Australia and have continued to extend an ambassadorial face to the rest of the world. Unfortunately the private purse is now empty and our desire to have these sims at least meet us halfway has not come through. After tonight, Australia and Dingo Bay will dissolve. Gem, Whelan and Raven extend our wishes of continued health and good humour to yourselves, friends and family.

When contacted by the Newser, Whelan stated he would have more to say later on, but had the grim task of informing more people as well as taking down things.

Yesterday on Sunday May 26, Veterans Isle held its Memorial Day Weekend Wounded Warrior Benefit. For four hours, performers entertained the crowd, many dancing to the music. The event was organized in part by musician Frets Nirvana.

It is time for the Wounded Warriors Memorial Weekend benefit. And we have a great lineup! Please join us to celebrate the memorial weekend the way it should be ... helping our vets! Give to those who give us our freedom. And say your prayers for one of our supporting Vets. Pondman Haalan (Alton Rex) had to cancel due to health issues.

Anek Fuchs started the event out at 5PM SL time. At 6PM, Senjata Witt took to the stage. 7PM was when Frets Nirvana got his guitar and went to the stage himself. Finally at 8PM. Rhia Yuhara and her band, "Rhia's Rawkettes," performed for the crowd for the last hour.

"This is the way to celebrate Memorial Weekend!" Frets told everyone at the event, asking people to invite their friends over. As time went on, the amounts in the two kiosks on either side of the stage slowly got larger. On occasion, Frets would match a donation, "1500 during this song and I have to match it." One jeweler offered a custom set of her wares for any donation of $3000 or greater.

By the end of the event, there was 52,500 Lindens in the left kiosk and 48,850 in the right one, for a total of 101,350 Lindens.

Today marks the birthday of a unique individual in Second Life whom was small in size, but big at heart. Lomgren Smalls was best known for his (almost) always wearing a six-inch high avatar of his own design and creation. In May 2009, Bixyl Shuftan interviewed him for Second Life Newspaper, which is being reprinted in the Newser.

A video from Nydia Tungsten about Club Zero Gravity, the space club frequented by residents of the Sunweaver/Angel community, the SL Newser office's virtual neighbors, "The Gang decided to go clubbing, so we went to our club 'Club Zero Gravity' in SL come check us... I mean 'it' out!"

Friday, May 23, 2014

Last weekend in Second Life, the Relaystock took place. This event by the Relay for Life team Relay Rockers was a tribute to the 1960s Woodstock event, with their sim of Relay dAlliez as the location. There were hippie outfits with tie-dyed shirts, tents, mud, plenty of music, and of course many enthusiastic Relayers taking part in this fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Trader Whiplash describes what happened in this reader submitted story.

Earlier this month, the Wildstar MMO by NCSoft was up in Open Beta and free to play for anyone whom downloaded the game. Among those giving the game a try was Nydia Tungsten. So how did she like it? She had a few things to say about this sci-fi multiplayer game.

Earlier this week, the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) Conference and Expo took place. Philip Rosedale had the honor of being the keynote speaker. Second Life Newser was able to get to one of the places in Secone Life where the event was broadcast. But, technical difficulties got in the way.

Applications for all Exhibitors, Performers, Speakers and Volunteers have now closed, and it looks like you guy REALLY love birthdays! We had 426 exhibitor applications, 440 Performer applications and over 300 volunteers! Now begins the task of sorting through all your applications and figuring out how to fit you all into 243 plots and 3 stages.. Our first priority is exhibitors, as the sims open for you lot on the 30th of May – not as far away as you’d think! Acceptances for you will start coming in the next few days and will continue over the next week. Please be patient as we have a lot to work through! We’ll post the dates that performers can expect to hear from us in a while, but that will be closer to our opening date of June 22 – we won’t forget you, promise!

Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announces the fifth of 2014 Wounded Warriors benefits. The fourth year running. And this is special because it is Memorial Day Weekend!

Frets Nirvana, the premier songwriting and guitar artist in the virtual world Second Life and the US Military Veterans Group announce the fifth of the monthly series of Wounded Warriors benefits in Second Life for 2014. This effort is now in it’s fourth year!

Frets Nirvana states: “As a result of the support of many in Second Life this effort raised over $13000 in 2013 for WWP and prior to that $12000 in 2012. 2014 will be the fourth year that we are maintaining this effort and hopefully with all the great support of the artists and others in Second Life we will once again do well. What a great thing it is to help the wounded veterans whose sacrifices allow us the freedom to enjoy things like Second Life.”

More than 50,000 troops have been injured in recent conflicts, many of them suffering traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and severe burns. Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) provides services and programs to ease their burdens and aid in the transition back to civilian life.

Wounded Warriors concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle. The concert on May 25, 2014 is scheduled from 4-9 PM PST. Featured artists will be PonDman Haalan, Anek Fuchs, Senjata Witt, Frets Nirvana and Rhia Yuharra.

ABOUT WOUNDED WARRIORS - Wounded Warrior Project began when several individuals took small, inspired actions to help others in need. The resulting objective was to provide tangible support for the severely wounded and help them on the road to healing, both physically and mentally. What had been initially viewed as a small contribution (compared with what the warriors had sacrificed while serving our country) has become WWP's signature program:"WWP backpacks delivered bedside to wounded warriors." Wounded Warriors program has developed significantly over the last several years to include advocacy, benefits counseling, caregivers retreats, coping/family services, peer mentoring, warriors to work and many other programs for the benefit of United States wounded veterans.

To learn more about the Wounded Warriors Project visit
https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,840/

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Some places in Second Life fail to make it to their first anniversary. So can you imagine one turning eight? The romance-themed Mystery sim celebrated its eighth anniversary on the Grid last week, with a week of special events for old and new friends dropping in.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

At the Saturday night party at Steelhead, there was a rather unusual scene. Kal-El Venkman ran into Skills Hak and other members of "The Wrong Hands," whom dropped in. This is a group whom in the past bickered with Kal-El and his Justice League Unlimited. The rivalry was often reported on by the Alphaville Herald tabloid. But that night, Kal-El seemed to just shrug them off. He explained his Krypton Radio station had proven such a big success, he saw no reason to get worked up.

On Sunday May 18, the Bay City region in Second Life celebrated its Sixth annual Anniversary event. People and their costumes, floats, and bikes, gathered at a meeting place, and after some last minute planning went down the main road with leading resident Marianne McCann in the lead. Following the parade was a music and dance party. The event was not a typical event as only last week a popular resident had passed away, and at one point a Linden showed up.

While we at Second Life Newser work hard to find you the news, one source of stories is you the readers.

Memorial Day is this weekend. If you know of a group planning a special tribute to fallen veterans, please let us know about it. And of course we're looking for more than that. Have you seen a well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "Only in SL" situation? Please let us know about it with a story or funny picture. And if we like it, we'll post it here as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is prefered.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name, and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.SL-newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyones name or picture or use an alias for them).

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

It's a week full of events in Second Life. Check out the Relay for Life's "Clue-Do" by Team Strange Journeys, "Who Killed Cuddly?" Memorial day is this weekend, with it's tributes (and backyard virtual barbecues). And don't forget our regularly scheduled DJ music parties, talk shows, discussions, book and poetry readings, and church services.

Besides Second Life, there was a bit going on in online games last weekend.

The "War Thunder" multiplayer online game has gotten attention for being an air combat game with players in planes bombing enemy tanks and AA positions, as well as scrapping against each other. On May 15, they had their "Update 1.41," which released their open beta for the tank action. So far, only Russian and German tanks are available for research, and there's just one beginning tank for each.

It was also the last few days for the "Wildstar" Open Beta. This space-themed MMO in development had been talked about by a few friends of mine. In the game, players choose one of two factions, the Exiles and the Dominion, one of eight races (four for each faction), one of six classes of character (warrior, medic, engineer, etc.), and one of four paths (soldier, scientists, explorer, settler). After your introduction on your faction's spaceship, players go down to the planet Nexus where the action takes place.

The game had a bit of a cartoony feel compared to "World of Warcraft." But it wasn't kiddie stuff with some of the language. I got to level eight for one character of each faction (Chua and Aurin), in which the plot gave each faction a reason for hating the other. It wasn't perfect as bugs slowed down the action sometimes, but I thought the game was worth keeping an eye on.

So what have my neighbors in Second Life been up to when not in Second Life? The "Furry Gamers" from HV Community have taken interest in a new one from Steam: Space Engineers. In this game, players mine asteroids to build stations and ships, and can either cooperate, or fight one another. There have been some fun short films of what happens when ships ram one another.

Monday, May 19, 2014

This weekend, the "Relaystock" took place in Second Life, but no doubt the event from the one before was still fresh in the minds of some, the "Fantasy Faire." Although there are plenty of shops one can get goods from, the proceeds going to charity, people also went to see the sims themselves. They were quite scenic with some great views.